Veterans Affairs vendor LHI is legitimate

If you're a veteran who has recently filed a disability claim, you may be contacted by LHI to schedule your Compensation and Pension (C&P) Exam.

Several local veterans have asked if this company is legitimate because they received text messages from LHI within a day or two of filing a disability claim.

This is highly unusual because it typically takes the third-party C&P examiners weeks if not months to schedule an appointment with the veteran. These independent providers have found it increasingly difficult to contact veterans via phone because so many will no longer answer, instead letting the call go to voicemail. Blame it on the proliferation of spam calls many of us receive.

Since third-party examiners get paid when they actually perform the examinations, they have an incentive to get appointments scheduled. So to speed up the process, third-party examiners have turned to texting, emailing and overnighting notices to veterans to attempt to get the exams scheduled.

As for LHI, the VA has contracted with this company to conduct C&P exams with veterans in our area, so yes, this is a legitimate company. Other third-party providers that the VA contracts with in our area include QTC, VES and VetFed.

It's frustrating that as consumers we're constantly being warned to be careful with texts and clicking on links, yet now the government and its agents are turning to digital forms of communication more and more to correspond with us, adding confusion to the whole process. As always, be careful when clicking on links and verify the sender beforehand.

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Watch for your tax rebate

On May 10, Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 380, which created the 2021 Idaho tax rebate fund. The bill provides a tax rebate to full-year residents of Idaho.

Eligibility depends on you being a full-time resident in 2019 and 2020 and filing an Idaho individual income tax return or grocery credit refund return for both of those tax years. Nonresidents and part-year residents are not eligible. A full-time resident is someone who spends more than 270 days a year in Idaho, or someone domiciled in Idaho for the entire tax year.

To get the rebate you're required to file valid 2019 and 2020 individual income tax returns by Dec. 31, 2021. The amount of tax rebate is either $50 per taxpayer and each dependent or 9% of the tax amount report on Form 40, line 20, or line 42 for eligible Idaho residents and service members using Form 43.

Payments were set to begin on Aug. 2. According to the Idaho Tax Commission, payments will be issued in the order of the date they received your 2020 tax returns.

Rebates through direct deposit will be issued before rebates issued by paper check. If you received your refund through direct deposit, it is expected that you will receive your rebate by the same method.

Since all income tax returns go through fraud detection reviews and accuracy checks, you might receive a letter asking you to verify your identity. Also, based on your individual circumstance, if your status changed between 2019 and 2020 or you owe other taxes like child support, it's likely the amount of your rebate will be impacted.

Visit www.tax.idaho.gov for more details on this rebate program or if you prefer to speak with someone, please call 208-334-7660 or 800-972-7660.

The rebates will be handled automatically by the state of Idaho so disregard any calls, emails, or texts you may receive offering to assist you in getting your rebate. Scammers prey on things like this rebate and may even make exaggerated promises to get you more money. Don’t believe them.

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Amazon apartment entry

You can bet that whenever a company wants something bad enough, it'll convince the consumer it’s good for the consumer. Now Amazon is pitching an idea to gain keyless entry to apartment buildings and other secured areas. Amazon is pushing landlords to give its drivers the ability to unlock apartment building doors with a mobile device.

The service is called Key for Business. It's being pitched as a way to cut down on stolen packages by making it easy for the drivers to leave them in lobbies and not outside.

In reality, rather than the consumer, Amazon benefits the most by enabling delivery drivers to make their rounds faster and report fewer stolen packages to reduce costs, which in turn gives Amazon an edge over competitors.

Some argue that the new device reduces the constant buzzing by delivery people and is a safer option than giving out codes to lots of delivery people. But there are still security risks and privacy concerns with Amazon’s program.

The company says it does background checks on delivery people but how thorough are those checks? Also, Amazon drivers are supposed to be able to unlock doors only when they have a package in hand to scan but it isn’t clear if that's the case. And finally, introducing a foreign internet-connected device into an internal private network has disadvantages because it can be hacked, which could allow anyone to unlock the doors.

Amazon says it has installed the device into thousands of apartment buildings around the country for free but it has been slow to respond to security concerns about potential hacking. In most areas, only the U.S. Postal Service has a way to enter apartment buildings to get to mailboxes. By allowing Amazon access to buildings, it’s another example of Amazon trying to take over more aspects of our lives and in the process could introduce potential risks.

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Remember: I’m on your side.

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If you have encountered a consumer issue that you have questions about or think our readers should know about, please send me an email at terridickersonadvocate@gmail.com or call me at 208-274-4458. As The CDA Press Consumer Gal, I’m here to help. I’m a copywriter working with businesses on marketing strategy, a columnist, a veterans advocate and a consumer advocate living in Coeur d’Alene.